


Baby Brother

by scifinut



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Kid Castiel, Kid Gabriel, Teenage Michael
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-04-17
Packaged: 2018-01-19 19:24:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1481188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scifinut/pseuds/scifinut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Big brother Gabriel to the rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baby Brother

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this post](http://bruisedcastiel.tumblr.com/post/82931842308/condemnedcas-but-gabriel-being-that-older) on Tumblr. My fingers must have slipped. Oops.

Gabe knew something was wrong with his little brother when he tried to catch his eye as their classes passed each other after lunch. Cas didn't look up at him and smile like he usually did, he kept his head bowed down, his whole body was slouched as he walked through the halls. Someone had done something to his baby brother, and Gabe was not okay with that. He was going to find out what had happened. He was going to make sure it didn't happen again.

After school, Gabe practically ran across the school to wait outside Cas's classroom. He knew his brother would be one of the last kids out of the room, and he wasn't disappointed today. Cas came out slower than usual, his entire body slumped beneath the weight of his backpack. "Hey little man, what's up?" he asked.

"Nothing," Cas replied. He kept walking past his big brother, which was unusual. Usually he took his hand and smiled, telling him all about what he had learned that day.

Gabe put his hand on Cas's shoulder, stopping him. "What happened?"

"I said nothing," Cas said petulantly, shaking his brother's hand off of his shoulder. "Leave me 'lone." He sped up and kept walking down the hallway, adjusting his backpack and pulling his tan jacket tighter around him.

With a heavy sigh, Gabe followed his brother slowly through the halls and out into the streets. He smiled at the crossing guards, waving at the ones across the street as they walked the short distance home. When he had unlocked the door and set Cas up with a snack and glass of milk, he sat down beside him.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

"Don' wanna talk about it," Cas replied, scowling down at his sandwich. "Go 'way."

"You're my baby brother," Gabe said seriously. "I gotta take care of you. And I can't do it if I don't know what's wrong. Tell me. I'll make it better, okay?" He patted his brother's shoulder gently. "It's my job."

A fat tear slid slowly down Cas's cheek and splashed against the table. He took an angry bite and plopped the sandwich down on the plate, pushing it away and trying to back away from the table. When Gabe held him in place he tried to turn and hit him. "Leave me ALONE!" he screamed. When Gabe backed off he ran off to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Gabe waited a bit before following his brother. He sat down outside the bedroom door and listened to his brother crying quietly on the other side. He swore he was going to find out what had happened and make it all better. Nobody was gonna mess with his baby brother and get away with it.

~~~~~

It was another few hours before Michael got home from his after school job. Cas hadn't come out of his room, and Gabe hadn't left the door. He knew he still had homework to get finished, but he could always get Ms. Callister to give him some more time on it if he sweet talked her.

Michael came and squatted beside Gabe. "What's up, big squirt?" he asked, concern on his face. This wasn't like him, usually he was sitting in front of the TV with Cas, or helping the youngest brother with his homework.

"Something's wrong with Cas. He won't tell me. He's been in there since we got home." He looked up at Michael sadly. "How can I make it all better if I don't know what to fix?"

"Go fix yourself something to eat, squirt. Then do your homework. We'll talk later, okay?" He patted Gabe on the arm and smiled at him. "Don't worry. I know how tough it is being the big brother all the time. Let me take the lead on this one." He waited until Gabe had headed off glumly to the kitchen before knocking on Cas's door and cracking it open. "Cas, bud, you in here?" He heard a small hiccup and pushed the door open all the way and came in. He sat down on the floor beside the small boy. "C'mere, buddy," he said, and Cas crawled into his lap. He held him close, pulling his brother to hold him against his chest.

Cas wrapped his small arms around Michael and began crying. As he cried, he tried to talk, but the words ended up muffled by sobs.

"It's alright, little man," Michael said, rubbing Cas's back and trying to soothe him. "It's okay. Calm down, okay? I've got you. Nothing's going to happen." He held him for several minutes until the sobs stopped. "Now, buddy, what's wrong?" He leaned bak and looked Cas in the face, wiping some tears away.

"They took my bee and called me a baby. Said I always ran to Gabe 'cause I was a big baby. And then when we came home, he wanted to know what happened. 'M not a baby, I don't need him." Cas folded his arms across his chest and frowned, trying hard not to break down into tears again.

"No you're not, bud. You're my little man, and you're very brave. But you gotta remember, Gabe's supposed to watch out for you. He's just trying to do his job and take care of you."

"Want Daddy," Cas said in a very small voice.

Michael sighed and pulled his baby brother in close again. "I know, bud. We all do." He held him like that for a few minutes until Cas fell asleep in his arms. Oh well, he thought, it wouldn't be the first time Cas cried himself to sleep with no dinner. He'd just make sure he ate plenty for breakfast. He tucked his brother into his bed and turned out the lights. "Night, bud," he whispered as he closed the door.

Gabe was waiting in the kitchen, a mostly empty plate beside him and his homework nearly completed. "Is he asleep already?"

Michael nodded. "Some of the kids in his class are teasing him, calling him names. They took his bee."

"They took Honey?" Gabe frowned. Someone was definitely going to pay. He already knew who had been teasing Cas all year. Luckily he had a morning recess overlap with the second graders before he went in and the kindergartners came out. He was going to have some words with some of those kids before they got to see Cas again. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

"You tell me if you need my help for anything, okay?" He wasn't going to mention that Gabe taking care of things was part of the reason Cas was being teased, he knew Gabe would just take it out on himself for not protecting his brother. He grabbed some leftover pizza from the fridge and headed off to his own room. "You know where to find me."

~~~~~

The next day at recess Gabe was waiting for the second graders when they came outside for their morning recess. Four of them huddled tightly together, the four who had in the past been merciless to Cas. He waited until they snuck around a corner and then followed them. They were holding Honey, but the bee had been completely mutilated overnight. It was covered with mud and torn in places. Gabe reached into the middle of their huddle and took the bee right out of their hands.

The second graders looked up at him, three girls and one boy. "Hey, that's not yours!" the boy said before he realized who he was talking to.

"It's not yours either, Don." He watched the boy's eyes get big and glance over at his twin sister. "Who took it from him?" Gabe demanded. The four looked nervously at each other, none speaking. "WHO?!"

"Umm, it was Abby's idea," one of the girls said.

"No it wasn't! She wouldn't come up with such a stupid idea!" Don said, defending his sister. "It was Lili!"

"Lucy started it all!"

"I did not! It was Abby and Don!"

Gabe reached out and hit Don in the arm, knocking him onto the ground face first. He pushed Lucy over and then reached out to pull Lily and Abby into the dirt by their hair as well. He mustered as much of a threatening demeanor as he could. "Leave my brother alone," he said.

"Or what, you'll go crying to daddy?" Abby taunted. She was the leader of the small gang.

Gabe leaned over and punched her in the chest. He knew it would hurt, but not leave any mark, so there would be no proof of anything. "Worse. I'll come after you myself."

"Oh, and that's supposed to scare us?" Lily added.

A blind rage came over Gabe. He reached out and pulled at hair, yanking as hard as he could. He punched at whatever was the most convenient target, not caring about getting in trouble. All he cared about was making sure his brother was left alone. Once he heard the whistle signaling his class's time to go inside, he stood up and looked over them. "Leave Cas alone. Got it?" He kicked each of the kids in the side while they were on the ground and sprayed up dirt behind his feet as he walked away, knowing he was covering them. When he passed a trash can on the way to the playground, he dropped Honey into it, hoping Cas didn't happen to see him in there.

~~~~~

Cas was still sad after school that day. Gabe was once again waiting for him when he got out of class. "C'mon, bud," he said, taking his brother's hand. "We're going on a special trip."

"Don't wanna," he said. "I wanna go home."

Gabe knelt down in front of his brother. "Cas, I promise, you'll like this. We're gonna go see Michael."

The pizza place that their older brother worked in wasn't too far from their school, so they headed off, Gabe holding tightly to Cas's hand. "So how was school today?"

"Okay," Cas replied.

"What did you learn about?"

"Letters and numbers." It was his standard reply for when he didn't really want to talk about school.

Gabe let the conversation drop. It was a step up from yesterday, which meant that his little talk had probably made some sort of difference. But Cas still missed his stuffed bee, he was sure.

When they got to the pizzeria, Gabe's mouth watered. He had skipped his lunch in order to have some money to try to win Cas a new bee, but he didn't want to tell him that. They sat themselves in a booth across from the door to the kitchen. As soon as Michael saw them, he came out.

"Hey, squirts, what brings you this way?" he said, scooting into the booth beside Cas.

Gabe stood up out of the booth. "I'll be right back," he said, heading towards the front. Michael frowned in curiosity, but he turned to entertain Cas for a few minutes.

When Gabe didn't come back immediately, Michael went to go check on him. He saw him standing in front of the claw machine with two stuffed toys at his feet, still working the claw. When it failed to grab the stuffed bee in the middle of the pile of toys, Gabe slumped down in defeat.

"Here, try again," Michael said, fishing more money out of his pocket and handing it to his brother. "You're better at this thing than I'll ever be."

Gabe smiled up at his older brother. "Thanks," he said. "I saw what they did to Honey. It wasn't pretty." He put the money in the machine and quietly concentrated on the small joystick controlling the claw. It wasn't until his third and final try that it grabbed the bee successfully and deposited it in the slot. Gabe grabbed it out and jumped in the air with excitement. "Got it!" he cried.

Michael mussed his hair. "I gotta get back to work. Stick around for a bit, I'll get us all some dinner when I'm done and you two can do your homework. I'll take you home. Okay?"

"Okay," Gabe replied. He walked with the three stuffed toys back to the booth where Cas was sitting, already working on his writing practice. "Here," Gabe said, pushing the bee across the table to him.

Cas didn't even look up.

"I got this for you, Cas," he said.

"It's not Honey," Cas replied sadly.

Gabe came around the table to sit beside his brother. "I know. I can't get Honey. He's gone. But I got you a new bee. And he's got friends, too." The purple giraffe and neon green kitten looked out of place next to the bee.

"I don't want a new bee, I want Honey!" Cas said. "I wanna go home. I want daddy. I wanna be big. Don't wanna be a baby anymore."

Gabe pulled Cas into a big hug. "You're not a baby, Cas. Yeah, you're my baby brother, but look at all the stuff you've been through. You can read and write better than some of the kids in MY class, you're some sort of super smart thing or something, and you're always nice to everyone no matter what." He kissed the top of his head. "I'm proud of you. No matter what. And I know Michael is too. And dad would be, if he were here."

"I miss him," Cas said, leaning into Gabe.

"I do too. But we'll be okay, I promise. I'll make it all okay for you."


End file.
